Mid 1960's Opemus IIa Photo Enlarger

Up for auction is an ALL ORIGINAL mid 1960's Opemus IIa Photo Enlarger, type 74214, made in Czechoslovakia. There are some small scratches and marks, shows wear and use (after all its over 50 years old). The power plug (which is the original 2 prong power plug) has a taped up crack and might need replacing if you choose to do so. All parts are in working order to the best of my knowledge and abilities. I have done extensive research on this item and the information below was the most informational and verified description that I could find. My research of this item via the internet found the following information about the Oemus IIa Photo Enlarger;

Specifications: Meopta Opemus lla enlarger. Construction: all metal, single post. Negative Size: 35mm and 2¼ x 2¼. Lens: 50mm f/4.5 Belar and 75mm f/4.5 Belar. Focusing: manual rack and pinion with focusing bellows. LIGHT SOURCE: 150-watt No. 212 opal lamp. OPTICAL SYSTEM: double condenser. Other Features: adjustable glass negative carrier with rangefinder focusing, filter drawer, 15 x 22 baseboard, red safelight filter, horizontal or vertical enlarging position, correction device.

Few are the photographers who can steal the space required for a large darkroom - and it doesn't matter if they live in an apartment or a house of their own. The Meopta Opemus lla may have well been designed for the tight little darkroom. It stands only 29" high to top of its angled column but you can make a full 11 x 14" print on the baseboard. And if you need something larger, you simply swivel the head 90° and project on a wall. For apartment dwellers it can be disassembled in minutes by unlocking two large knobs--one each at the baseboard and lamp housing assembly.

The Meopta is a small but precision machine. The rack-and-pinion system for both the lamphouse and the bellows focusing system works smoothly. More important for the color printer, there's hardly a light leak from its dark red glass encased lamp housing. We spent several long printing sessions with the Meopta and can report that its heat dissipating system (convection) really works. The machine never gets too hot to touch comfortably.

One of the really big features for the man in a hurry is its rangefinder focusing system, which is actually part of the adjustable negative carrier (more about that later). Pull the carrier part way out, and two lines are projected on the easel. Line up the two lines by rotating the bellows control knob and the negative is properly focused. We have always been exponents of various optical critical focusing devices, but we could discern no difference in sharpness with prints made using a separate focuser or the rangefinder to determine sharpness. And the range-finder was a whole lot faster to use.

The glass negative carrier has four controls that are used to position movable borders. You can drop or mask (for 35mm or 2¼ x 2¼) in the carrier rather than letting unwanted images spill over the easel's border.

Illumination tests indicated some light fall-off at the right edge of an 11 x 14 print at f/4.5. At f/5.6 this fall-off became barely discernible and at f/8, totally nonexistent.

Over-all print quality at f/8 was as good as you could ask from the machine. The same condensers are used for the 75mm f/4.5 for 2¼ x 2¼. evenness of illumination was as good with the 75mm as with the 50mm.

We also tested the Meopta restitution ring. This device is substituted for the regular lens mount--used for correcting unwanted converging lines--in building shots, for instance. It consists of a ring that can be angled to about 20° by rotating a set screw. You also tilt the enlarger head or baseboard to retain over-all sharpness. It works, but you settle for smaller than 11 x 14 prints. The full 35mm negative cannot be printed with the 50mm lens. You must use a 75mm lens.

All this information can be found in the January 1968 edition of "Modern Photography".

In general, the Meopta proved to be a sensibly designed, well engineered machine.

Please contact me with any questions prior to bidding, I will answer all questions to the best of my abilities. FYI: I am currently awaiting "verification" on my PAYPAL ACCOUNT, I have already been verified on e-bay, of which I have been a seller/buyer for about 4 years now. HAPPY BIDDING!!!!!!!